Software Developer's Journey

Stephanie first told us about the detours that led her from math, art and political science to computer science. We then discussed her first jobs and her first mentor. We then touched on how she joined Oculus and Unity and their respective interview processes before switching gears and talking about entrepreneurship and her creating her own business. Stephanie was then very open about her technical burn out and explained how she feels it coming back. Stephanie Hurlburt is a graphics...

Llevellyn took us way back to the point where he discovered his first computer and FORTRAN. We brushed over his studies and drifted toward MobProgramming after talking about dancing. Llewellyn told us about how he discovered "strong style pair programming" and how it brought the joy of programming back in his life. Llewellyn Falco is an independent agile coach who spends most of his time programming in Java and C# specializing in improving legacy code. He is creator of the open source...

Elissa first spoke about her political sciences, activism background and then her love for IT. We then discussed getting into Security, Mentoring, people surrounding you and creating a business. We finally delved on failures, growth and being a role model. Elissa Shevinsky is CEO at Faster Than Light, where she is building super fast tools for static analysis testing. She previously helped launch Geekcorps, Everyday Health and Brave. But you might also know Elissa for her work promoting...

Trisha took us from her first years at school, being an outsider, all the way to taking advantage of it as a developer advocate for JetBrains. During this fantastic discussion, we brushed over the people that helped and even pushed her. We spoke about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. We discussed taking a leap of faith, not burning bridges, taking control of your career, working on your brand, important developer skills and building on people. Trisha has developed Java...

Julie first told us how she met Christopher Allen, the co-author of her Book "Haskell programming from first principles", why learning in general is hard and why they wanted to approach learning Haskell from a different angle. We then drifted into Julie's own learning of Haskell and how she came into the programming world. We then digged further into the Haskell echosystem and the world of academia. And finally, we touched on TypeClass, Julie's own company, dedicated to teaching...

Robby first told us how the selfless scratching of his own itch lead to the success of his tool "Oh my Zsh". We then backtracked to his early years and how he got into development. Step by step, Robby took us through the creation and growth of his consultancy ; which is deeply intertwined with Ruby on Rails, scratching his own itch(es) again, and helping others along the way. Robby co-founded Planet Argon in 2002, which is a a software consultancy based out of Portland, Oregon USA. Planet...

Adam took us through his journey at Microsoft. From the first (failed) interviews, to his long career writing code, helping teams and teaching developers. We spoke about the key learnings that encouraged him to write two of his books and finished by talking about the state of software development and where our industry could grow in the future. Adam Barr worked with and for Microsoft for more than two decades. There he worked on various versions of Windows, Powershell and Office as well as...

Magnus started by telling us the story of his first steps, tinkering on a Commodore64 devising on what attracted him toward computers in the first place. Then we discussed his first apps using Borland TurboPascal and how this hobby evolved into a job. We talked polyglot-ism, craftsmanship, re-reading books, apprenticeship programs and code katas. Forged of iron and walrus blood, Magnus Staahre comes from an ancient line of nordic code smiths. His technology engineering heritage was...

After brushing over his "false starts" at being a developer, Yehuda slowly took us into a deep, deep dive. We talked about framework design, design philosophy, the importance of communities and being part of a core team. Yehuda is one of the creators of Ember.js, and a retired member of the Rust, Ruby on Rails and jQuery Core Teams. His 9-to-5 home is at the startup he founded, Tilde Inc.. There he works on Skylight, the smart profiler for Rails, and does Ember.js consulting. He's best...

Dave's first professional love was for teaching. He developed it while studying physics at university. But as the DotCom boom went by, he jumped on the coding bandwagon and was hooked. Dave took us through those first years, learning the ropes and climbing the ladder, going from one giant company to a small one where he could really have an impact. Finally, since Dave is the host of the "Developer on Fire" podcast, we discussed podcasting, why he got into it and what he learned from it along...

Brian first told us about his very first Apple E computer and his journey up to college when he learned electrical engineering before switching major to computer science. He spoke about his first startup and his learnings, being a software engineer during the "DotCom Era". Brian then told us about the job where he learned most about teamwork and then about scaling applications. And we completed this very logical buildup by talking about the companies he created. Brian studied computer...

Charity first took us through the pain of being a CEO and explained us why she chose to focus on tech again after a while. She then explained how she felt into code instrumentalisation during her time at Parse and how this became her idea for Honeycomb.io. We then went back to her early years, how she felt into IT, SysAdministration and ended up working in the Silicon Valley. We talked about mentorship, learning and sharing. We dwelved on the public speaking skills as a leadership skill...

Ben Orenstein first talked about being able to create products. We spoke about Ben's early programs and his attempt at studying in college. We then spoke about his second attempt at entering the IT industry, through the backdoor this time. Ben told us about his discovery of Ruby and joining Thoughbot. He told us about why sharing knowledge is important to him. We then touched on public speaking and the two podcasts he hosted during his career. We finally switched gears and talked about...

Saron took us from the early years of career as a journalist, to her first coding steps. She explained us in details how her bootcamp and apprenticeship programs took her from a code newbie to a solid developer and avid learner. Saron explained us why she created the CodeNewbie community and how it slowly but surely evolved into her current business. We devised on the many faces of the CodeNewbie community, podcasts and conferences. Saron finally gave us the advice to focus and do things...

Ali started by telling us how she got into software development, almost by accident, how she became an assistant professor and how she slowly but surely embraced this career. We talked about her time working for a startup and why her time there was invaluable. We talked at length about her move from develoment to teaching and what she learned along the way. We finally segwayed into her current role at the crossroads of development, teaching and community as a developer advocate. Ali is a...

Shawn took us through the early days of his career and quicky pivoted toward his first mentor "Ron". He told us how Ron managed to infect him with the willingness to write good code. We then brushed over learning and what it takes to become a lifelong learner. We touched on being a role model and how Chris Sells played a central role in his live. We finally discussed decision making strategies and the interviewing game. Shawn Wildermuuuth has been tinkering with computers and software since...

Together we talked about Erik's first hacking feats and how he got his first job in the IT world. We then brushed over his learnings at Disney and Comcast before joining Microsoft to help other developers. Erik then encouraged us to question our perception of ourself, and compare ourselves only against our former self. We then touched on the definition of seniority. We discussed Erik's experience getting to know the Go language and organize the first GopherCon conference. And we finally...

"Curmudgeon" (noun): a bad-tempered person, especially an old one. Barry first told us about his very first encounter with a computer... hooked to a TV back then. We then brushed over what attracted him toward computer sciences. We discussed security and all the things we expect... or hope people will do and setting them up for success. We rewinded back to how Barry furthered and then dropped out of his computer science studies and how he ended up working as a programmer anyway. Barry...

April is the founder of Compassionate Coding, a conscious business that helps technical teams cultivate sustainable, human-­centered software development practices built on a foundation of emotional intelligence. She has spent the past decade as a software engineer and technical leader at various startups in Silicon Valley. As an advocate for a more socially responsible tech industry, she also mentors technologists around the world and volunteers with organizations to teach coding to people...

Jeremy Likness is a Cloud Developer Advocate for Azure at Microsoft. Jeremy has spent two decades building enterprise software with a focus on line of business web applications. He is the author of several highly acclaimed technical books including Designing Silverlight Business Applications and Programming the Windows Runtime by Example. He has given hundreds of technical presentations during his career as a professional developer. In his free time Jeremy likes to run, hike, and maintain a...